Westmoreland County high school soccer notebook: Norwin boys ready to take best shot at Plum

By: Bill Beckner Jr.
Thursday, October 23, 2025 | 4:42 PM

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Playing Plum again was on Norwin’s short list of goals, but the Knights are not overthinking their third matchup with the Mustangs.

No. 6 seeded Norwin (15-5-3) will visit No. 3 Plum (14-2-2) for a 2 p.m. kickoff Saturday in the WPIAL Class 4A quarterfinals.

Plum won the first meeting, 1-0, scoring in the 76th minute, before the teams tied 0-0 late in the regular season. That’s one goal in 180 minutes of soccer. That’s almost as long as The Godfather Part II.

“We’re going to work all week in practice to prepare for them again,” junior defender Danny Metzger said.

Norwin has eight straight shutouts, but coach Scott Schuchert thinks it will take a near-perfect effort to beat the Mustangs for the first time since 2018.

“There is a lot of excitement, not nervousness with this game,” Schuchert said. “We’ll have to be ready and play a complete team game.”

It also may take more unsung heroes to emerge. Schuchert said he was surprised Metzger and Ian Natale were the goal scorers in Tuesday’s playoff opener.

Natale has been hampered by a hamstring injury, while Metzger plays on the back line.

Metzger had two goals in Tuesday’s 4-0 win over Woodland Hills in the first round.

He was active around the ball a lot in the second half, and it paid off with his first career brace.

“They like to take advantage of my big head on set pieces,” Metzger said.

Also, you might be hard-pressed to find a player with a longer throw-in than Metzger.

Passing the Buc

Fourth-seeded Mt. Pleasant has enough experience and wherewithal to not look ahead when it plays No. 12 Shady Side Academy at noon Saturday in the WPIAL 2A girls quarterfinals.

But the Vikings (14-4-1) must have taken a peek at the bracket. Why? Because if they win and the No. 8 seed pulls an upset in the other quarterfinal, redemption will fuel this playoff run.

The No. 8 seed is Burrell (10-6-2), which has beaten Mt. Pleasant in the quarterfinals the last two years — four of the last six years in the postseason in total.

The rematch is intriguing, but a lot has to happen first.

Burrell will have its hands full with No. 1 South Park (19-0) on Saturday. Although, the Bucs know a thing or two about beating a No. 1 seed. They did it last year – against Mt. Pleasant.

Crowe’s nest

Hempfield wasn’t one of the top teams in WPIAL Class 4A boys soccer, although the Spartans (5-11) returned to the playoffs for the first time in 11 years.

They did, however, have one of the top players in the district.

Quietly, senior Braden Crowe had another outstanding season and was named the co-player of the year in Section 1-4A, alongside Plum’s Austin Kolankowski.

Crowe also made the all-section first team.

He had 15 goals and five assists this season. He has 28 goals and 15 assists for his career, meaning he was involved in 67.2% of Hempfield’s 64 goals in his four-year run.

Crowe made two penalty kicks in one game against Penn Hills.

FR sweep

Franklin Regional snagged the coach and player of the year awards for Section 3-3A.

Nick White is the section’s top coach, while junior Thomas Bridges was the top player – quite an honor for a defender.

The bruising Bridges leads an experienced back line for the Panthers (17-3), who have advanced to the WPIAL 3A semifinals for the third straight year.

State finals

The PIAA soccer championships will have a new home, at least for this year.

Northeastern High School in Manchester, York County, will host Nov. 14-15 due to construction at Cumberland Valley.

PIAA Chief Operating Officer Mark Byers said the bidding process will reopen after this year’s finals with the next site hosting for the next four years.

The schedule for the state finals (times to be announced) has the 4A and 2A games on Nov. 14, with 3A and A on Nov. 15.

State qualifiers

In the WPIAL, the top two teams in 4A and the top three teams in 3A, 2A and A will qualify for the PIAA playoffs. There will be third-place games in 3A, 2A and A.

This goes for the boys and girls playoffs.

The PIAA playoffs begin Nov. 4.

Bill Beckner Jr. is a TribLive reporter covering local sports in Westmoreland County. He can be reached at bbeckner@triblive.com.

Tags: Franklin Regional, Hempfield, Norwin